Librarian

is making progress.



I'm doing 40 things
 

Librarian's Life List

  1. 1. Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.
    189 entries . 34 cheers
    735 people
  2. 2. list at least three things I've accomplished today
    49 entries . 12 cheers
    1 person
  3. 3. exercise everyday
    5 entries . 53 cheers
    371 people
  4. 4. become a locavore
    6 entries . 30 cheers
    9 people
  5. 5. lose 25 pounds
    14 entries . 23 cheers
    1,454 people
  6. 6. landscape the garden
    5 entries . 43 cheers
    29 people
  7. 7. unpack
    4 entries . 14 cheers
    54 people
  8. 8. engage in professional activities as a librarian
    6 entries . 35 cheers
    1 person
  9. 9. be more involved in my community
    6 entries . 27 cheers
    27 people
  10. 10. do fewer things, more passionately
    64 cheers
    1 person
  11. 11. do first things first!
    15 team members . 63 entries . 30 cheers
    94 people
  12. 12. work through the emotional, mental, and spiritual issues that keep me from getting things done in the physical world
    6 entries . 44 cheers
    1 person
  13. 13. have nothing in my house that I do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful
    5 entries . 140 cheers
    62 people
  14. 14. Fund 43 microloans through Kiva.org
    18 team members . 15 entries . 53 cheers
    72 people
  15. 15. help my friend with a renal diet
    5 entries . 10 cheers
    1 person
  16. 16. Grow a vegetable garden
    3 entries . 40 cheers
    354 people
  17. 17. bake sourdough bread
    2 entries . 23 cheers
    8 people
  18. 18. work my way through Steering by Starlight by Martha Beck
    7 cheers
    1 person
  19. 19. Bond with other INFJ's.
    1 entry . 10 cheers
    8 people
  20. 20. Make 2009 My Best Year Yet
    32 entries . 16 cheers
    110 people
  21. 21. fix up my house
    10 entries . 6 cheers
    119 people
  22. 22. take care of myself
    3 entries . 11 cheers
    280 people
  23. 23. Edit my NaNoWriMo novel
    8 cheers
    15 people
  24. 24. complete NaNoWriMo 2009
    11 cheers
    6 people
  25. 25. Have adventures
    8 entries . 19 cheers
    205 people
  26. 26. complete the MIC record keeping project
    3 cheers
    1 person
  27. 27. find and cooperatively cheer-bomb 43T newbies
    11 entries . 10 cheers
    33 people
  28. 28. take a photo every day for one year
    1 entry . 9 cheers
    70 people
  29. 29. Take 43 Photographs of Doors
    2 entries . 12 cheers
    11 people
  30. 30. take 43 self portrait photographs where you cannot see my face
    10 entries . 11 cheers
    86 people
  31. 31. give Wren cheers and hugs
    2 cheers
    8 people
  32. 32. submit 20 photos to Flickr's Monday Blues group in 2009
    1 entry . 2 cheers
    1 person
  33. 33. submit 20 photos to Flickr's Perfect Purple Saturdays group in 2009
    1 entry . 4 cheers
    1 person
  34. 34. Take 43 Photographs of Hands
    17 entries . 4 cheers
    2 people
  35. 35. Learn Photoshop Elements 7
    3 entries . 6 cheers
    1 person
  36. 36. use the Pomodoro technique regulary
    1 entry . 3 cheers
    3 people
  37. 37. Pray For Ru To Have A Better Living Situation, A Peaceful Home, And A Nice Neighborhood
    1 entry . 5 cheers
    4 people
  38. 38. Win NaNoWriMo 2009
    1 entry . 1 cheer
    18 people
  39. 39. Keep thinking good thoughts for Sadie
    4 cheers
    34 people
  40. 40. read 90 books that support my healthy lifestyle
    13 entries . 5 cheers
    1 person

How I did it
How to get 100 cheers on my B-day 1/28
It took me
1 day
It made me
celebrate!


How to make 2008 my best year yet
It took me
1 year
It made me
motivated


How to follow the _Four Day Win_ plan, noting my thoughts and experiences as I go
It took me
1 year
It made me
more watchful


See all "How I Did It" stories...

Recent entries
read 90 books that support my healthy lifestyle (read all 13 entries…)
Book 13. Staging Your Comeback 15 hours ago

Staging Your Comeback: A Complete Beauty Revival for Women over 45 by Christopher Hopkins

At first glance, this wouldn’t seem like a book to support my healthy lifestyle, but, let’s face it, looking good is one of the tried-and-true reasons for losing weight. I believe that one of the reasons that I’m succesfully losing weight this time is because “improving my appearance” is not in my top ten list of advantages to losing weight. However, it is number 11. And on any given day, I never know what is going to motivate me. There are moments when “improving my appearance” is the primary reason that I’m willing to pick up dumb bells for an arms routine or eat lunch at home instead of going out.

I’m quite clueless about most of the issues covered in this book—how to choose clothes that look good on me, how to obtain and maintain an attractive hairstyle, how to wear makeup that enhances my look without overpowering it. Not all the answers are found in the book, of course, but it got me started on an interesting path. I have an appointment next week for a free consultation with a curly hair specialist. I’ve requested several more books from the library. And I have a plan to improve my appearance over the next several months, starting with hair and skin care and ending with clothes, since clothes are always problematic when losing weight (how much am I willing to spend on items that I may own for less than a year?).



Win NaNoWriMo 2009
4 writing sessions 5 days ago

2 days
4 scenes
4600 words



read 90 books that support my healthy lifestyle (read all 13 entries…)
Book 12. Rethinking Thin 1 week ago

Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss—and the Myths and Realities of Dieting by Gina Kolata

I read this book in a day—which is a good indication of high quality writing.

The structure follows a study that compares Atkins to a low calorie diet over a 2 year period. But within that structure, Kolata gives us a history of dieting (all the advice we get now was invented in the 19th and early 20th century—including low-carb and calorie counting), the history of the ideal body image (it keeps getting thinner), and the history of obesity research (it’s all in the genes).

It’s actually a bit depressing to read this book at this stage when I’m losing weight and having thoughts like “I think I’ve got it this time. I really believe this time I have all the tools I need to lose the weight and keep it off permanently.” I’m probably wrong about that. According to the studies in this book, the best I can realistically hope for is to lose, maybe, 30 pounds. Or less, maybe I should be happy to lose and keep off 10% of my starting weight.

She quotes studies that don’t get much coverage now that the healthiest weight range for long life appears to be what we call “overweight,” not what we call “normal.” And she posits a theory that maybe we are heavier now for the same reason that we are taller. Our genes dictate our maximum height, but we only get there if we are properly fed as youngsters. Weight genes may work much the same way. I’m a good six to eight inches taller than my grandmothers, maybe it makes sense that I’m also at the hefty end of the scale.

Maybe it’s because I’ve read so many books recently that take on the food industry and our current eating enviroment, but I was not entirely convinced by her attitude about that. Apparently, there aren’t studies that show cause and effect. But, I see cause and effect in my own experience. Eating what passes as a normal American diet makes me fatter than eating more like my grandparents. On the other hand, this book makes me feel better about the fact that cutting out the highly-processed foods has not resulted in the dramatic weight loss that I had hoped for and expected. It doesn’t work like that.

This book isn’t going to make me stop my current approaches to a healthier lifestyle, but I think I may try to be gentler with myself about where it takes me. What if I only lose 30 pounds? Or 40? Instead of putting it all back on in disgust like I did the last time, I’ll see if I can maintain at that weight. I will have done better than the participants in the 2-year study—they generally lost about 10% of their weight in the first six months, regardless of diet, and the best results consisted of maintaining that loss since many participants re-gained at least some of that weight.



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